Business Insurance articles from June 2000

Business Insurance archives from June 2000

Training programs serve multiple goals.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... Brokers increasingly see employee training programs as an excellent way not only to boost employee skills and knowledge, but also to increase loyalty and satisfaction. Training programs -- both online and in-person -- also are winning favor...

Accreditation withdrawal sparks debate.
June 5, 2000... OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Efforts by Washington state's insurance commissioner to downplay the impact of her department's withdrawal from a national regulatory accreditation program are sparking controversy. Washington state insurance officials...

ACORD to develop commercial-account data standards.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... Exchanging information on some commercial insurance accounts will be easier if work on new electronic standards is successful. ACORD has established a working group to begin developing standards for processing information related to large...

Online startup signs agencies.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... An Internet insurance trading company has reached a milestone before completing its first transaction. In anticipation of its launch later this year, InsureTrade.com has signed up agencies handling more than $1 billion in premiums, said...

Agents hoping XML will help realize longtime goal.(insurance industry)(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... Insurance agents are embracing a new computer language with apostolic zeal. Extensible markup language, a format that allows a real-time exchange of information between users, has emerged as the favorite among insurance industry groups...

ACORD marks 30 years.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... What must rank as one of the slickest and most elaborately staged insurance industry conferences provided attendees with a mix of high-tech entertainment and education last month. ACORD held its Technology Conference 2000 at the...

Aetna in talks to sell non-health care units.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... HARTFORD, Conn. -- Employers that do business with Aetna/U.S. Healthcare likely won't see much of an impact if parent Aetna Inc. sells its international and financial services operations to ING Groep N.V., analysts say. At the same time,...

Scandals can influence police liability coverage.
June 5, 2000... High-profile cases of police misconduct -- such as recent scandals in Los Angeles and New York -- can influence police liability coverage arrangements nationwide. The media attention to such incidents can lead to widespread mistrust of...

Prudence needed in privacy.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... The National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners needs to tread very carefully if it is seriously considering applying new federal consumer privacy regulations to workers compensation claimants. We believe that such a move by state regulators...

Not managing risks too costly.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... IGNORING risk management is not only costly -- it can be fatal. One New York company is learning that the hard way as government officials seek to revoke its operating licenses and shut it down in the wake of an accident that caps a long...

For the Record.
June 5, 2000... DERAILMENT PROMPTS SUITS Residents of a southwestern Louisiana town who were evacuated from their homes May 27 because of the derailment of a cargo train carrying hazardous chemicals are suing Union Pacific Railroad. Two class-action lawsuits...

Global Briefs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... Munich Reinsurance Co. expects its profits to grow by about 10% in 2000 and its revenues to increase by 4%, the reinsurer announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, Munich Re and Allianz A.G. Holding will reduce their cross-shareholdings to about 20% from...

Commentary: Is it treasure or is it trash?(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 5, 2000... Our company is moving our Chicago office next year and I am already suffering anxiety attacks. Although the move is still eight to 10 months away, I'm already being asked to inspect dusty boxes in the building's basement and urged to begin...

Louisiana seeks to limit exclusions' expanded use.
June 5, 2000... BATON ROUGE, La. -- The pollution coverage pendulum would swing back in Louisiana policyholders' favor by year's end under a unique state effort to limit insurers' use of the absolute and total pollution exclusions. The Louisiana Insurance...

`Holistic' view debated; Few products for transferring broad array of risk.
June 5, 2000... LUXEMBOURG -- Taking a "holistic" approach to managing risk has the potential to improve corporate performance, but few companies to date have successfully taken this approach, a brokerage executive says. In addition, insurers and...

Will new options supplant captives?(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... LUXEMBOURG -- Will new risk financing options mean the end of captives? That is a question posed by Paul Bawcutt, chairman of London-based Risk & Insurance Research Group Ltd., during the recent Luxembourg Rendez-Vous. Mr. Bawcutt...

Debating value of ART; Alternatives may bring new problems.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... LUXEMBOURG -- As companies consider new alternative risk transfer products to meet their needs, they should be aware of new problems the solutions can bring, a reinsurance executive warns. "ART brings with it its share of witch doctors,"...

MEWA penalties possible; Many employers unaware of new filing rule.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Employers that extend their health insurance plans to more than their own employees could be liable for $1,000-a-day penalties if they fail to file a new, federally required form by July 1. As that deadline approaches,...

Burned at the box office; AXA sues over film finance losses.
June 5, 2000... NEW YORK -- AXA Group and several other insurers that saw the movie production finance business as a glamorous money-maker in the 1990s are now starring in the financial equivalent of a disaster film. After only a few years backing film...

Market for public entity risks showing signs of a turn.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... Public sector risk managers this year are seeing the signs of a changing insurance market. While no one is predicting the kind of market hardening they faced in the mid-1980s that drove governmental entities to self-insurance and pooling, the...

Taking Stock: Standard measure of P/C exposure is flawed.(property-casualty insurance)(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... Most industry observers, including us, argue that the property-casualty industry is materially overcapitalized, as is demonstrated by the industry's Dec. 31, 1999 statutory premiums-to-surplus ratio of 0.85-to-1. The prevailing theory has...

Ruling on safety issues; Disabled can't be denied jobs that pose personal risks: Court.
June 5, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Employers could find themselves in a dilemma over which laws to obey in light of a federal appellate decision that says a disabled employee cannot be denied a job on the grounds that it may endanger that worker, say attorneys...

Industry laboring to get employees.(insurance)(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... Although insurers and intermediaries have long struggled to draw young talent into the insurance industry, today's tight labor market is forcing many companies to rethink the way they attract and retain employees. In some cases, firms are...

A/BT Perspective: Agents must adapt to e-conomy.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... New Economy companies, those based on Internet-related business, are turning many of the rules of commerce on their head. Based on their stock performance alone, these firms have been up to the roof and they have been down and almost out in...

Internet can improve health marketplace: Speaker.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... NEW YORK -- The Internet can pave the way for a better health care marketplace, driving down costs and helping to mitigate employer liability, one health care executive maintains. The health care system should be revamped and divided into...

Better, faster, lower cost: online benefits enrollment.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... NEW YORK -- Soon, using paper forms to enroll employees into health plans may seem as quaint as driving to work in a horse and buggy. The Internet can make the delivery of benefits "better, faster and cheaper," said Jim McAloon, a...

Tainted seed uproar yields new questions on liability.
June 5, 2000... Hundreds of European farmers face destroying thousands of acres of crops or being unable to sell their harvest following the contamination of oilseed rape by genetically modified Canadian seeds, and it is unclear who will pay the insurance...

Australian reforms proposed.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... SYDNEY, Australia -- The Australian insurance regulator has proposed new standards that would toughen insurers' minimum capital requirements and alter their management of reinsurance strategies. The new standards proposed by the Australian...

Products and Services: AAIS expands contractor liability coverage.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... WHEATON, Ill. -- Insured contractors have a new commercial liability endorsement that will reimburse them or pay to compensate others for property damage no matter who is liable for the damage. Under the new Voluntary Property Damage...

Public risk managers welcome liability claims data standard.
June 5, 2000... The Public Risk Database Project is looking for a few good public entities and service providers to adopt its new liability claims data standard. If implemented by public entities, pools, risk management information system vendors and...

PRIMA leader primed for future; Incoming president sets sights on increasing membership.(Public Risk Management Association)
June 5, 2000... Boosting membership, enhancing the skills of members and increasing their interaction with and value to other government officials are among the goals for the new president of the Public Risk Management Assn. "I have a number of goals. We...

Public risk managers mark profession's advance.
June 5, 2000... For public sector risk managers, whose role once consisted mostly of buying insurance, the nature of the job has changed considerably. Although that focus began to shift in the 1970s, the pace of change dramatically accelerated in the...

Regulatory delay criticized.(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner M. Diane Koken must stop "stonewalling" American Re-Insurance Co.'s application for regulatory approval to buy surplus lines insurer United National Group, a state judge has ruled. The...

The mystery of broker remuneration; Full disclosure of brokers' contingent commissions might not be in the best interests of buyers.
June 5, 2000... The issue of contingent commissions has been a matter of contention between brokers and risk managers for the last two years, with insurers watching rather impassively from the sidelines. The irksome issue had its origin early in 1998, when...

Updates.(property and casualty insurance rates rise)(Brief Article)
June 5, 2000... P/C rate increases highest at midsize firms: Survey WASHINGTON -- The commercial property/casualty insurance market continues to harden, according to a new survey of commercial insurance brokers. The Council of Insurance Agents &...

Commentary: Put your money where my car is.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... Many insurance companies are likely growing concerned about lackluster investment returns, especially in the wake of spectacular losses on such sure-fire schemes as providing gap financing to Barbra Streisand movies. As we reported...

Employer can rescind promise; Court finds notice of change sufficient.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- A California Supreme Court decision that says employers are not necessarily bound by promises of job security is a welcome recognition of companies' need for flexibility, say defense attorneys. But plaintiff attorneys say...

Regulator dogged by controversy.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Ongoing probes of California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush's regulatory and political affairs may sideline him from efforts to repair the state's troubled workers compensation market, insurer representatives...

Reinsurance market outlook seen as cloudy.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... Analysts are divided over what the future holds for the customers of European reinsurers. Some analysts say the next renewal season will mean rate hikes for ceding insurers and risk managers, but others believe that surplus capacity and capital...

Reliance downgraded; Best rating may be setback for renewals, merger.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... NEW YORK -- Reliance Group Holdings Inc.'s turnaround plan took a significant hit last week when most of its insurance subsidiaries were downgraded to B++ from A- by A.M. Best Co. The rating agency's move comes in the midst of a proposed...

Perspective: `Loophole' demands legislative response.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... In the May 29 issue of Business Insurance, Jon Harkavy wrote in support of the proposition that, to cite the title of his article, the "Bermuda `loophole' should remain." Mr. Harkavy was referring of course to the initiative launched by...

Texas option may get review; Employers opting out of comp limit liability with waivers.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas' highest court is being asked to review the legality of an approach some employers in the state are taking to minimize their liability for workplace injury claims. Under a unique Texas law, employers can opt out of...

Preauthorization change criticized; Texas considers earlier comp review.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... AUSTIN, Texas -- A battle in Texas over the preauthorization of some workers compensation medical services is intensifying. Chiropractors are threatening to take legal action against the Texas Workers Compensation Commission if proposed...

Tests drive down drug use; Focus shifting to non-transportation industries: Experts.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... DENVER -- Drug testing has reduced the number of "positive" test results, but employers still have work to do in educating employees about how substance use can affect their ability to do their jobs safely, a drug and alcohol counselor said....

Updates.(Business Brief)
June 12, 2000... Big Three automakers to offer benefits to same-sex partners DETROIT -- The Big Three U.S. automakers have decided to provide domestic partner health care benefits to their U.S. employees. Although the coverage will vary, all three...

Gray revises forecast to include more storms.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The Atlantic and Gulf coasts should brace for even more hurricanes this summer and fall than predicted just two months ago, a widely recognized hurricane expert says. William Gray, one of the nation's foremost...

MEWA penalties possible; Many employers unaware of new filing rule.
June 12, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Employers that extend their health insurance plans to more than their own employees could be liable for $1,000-a-day penalties if they fail to file a new, federally required form by July 1. As that deadline approaches,...

Products & Services.(insurance)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... Consumer Health Network expands services on Internet PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Employees enrolled in Consumer Health Network, New Jersey's largest preferred provider organization, now can obtain door-to-door driving directions to physician...

Younger workers found more likely to cash out 401(k).(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... Despite big tax penalties and a huge hit to savings that they will need for retirement, most employees who change jobs cash out their 401(k) plan account balances rather than roll over the funds to individual retirement accounts or to their new...

Datebook.(Statistical Data Included)
June 12, 2000... JUNE JUNE 25-28. The American Society of Safety Engineers' Annual Professional Development Conference and Exposition in Orlando, Fla.; $740 for ASSE members and $880 for non-members. ASSE, 1800 E. Oakton St., Des Plaines, Ill. 60018-2187;...

Patient bill end run is defeated.
June 12, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Many opponents of proposals to expand health care plan liabilities are optimistic that they will prevail in the congressional battle over patient rights legislation. Those opponents were especially heartened last week when the...

Cease unfair regulations .(insurance industry)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... INSURANCE REGULATORS in Oregon and elsewhere that persist in discriminating against risk retention groups have received another clear signal from federal courts that such actions will not be tolerated. We are pleased with the recent ruling...

Broken promises erode trust.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... SOME EMPLOYERS in California no doubt are cheering a state Supreme Court decision upholding an employer's right to rescind promises made to employees as long as it has given adequate notice of the change. But the victory, depending on...

Large insurers dominating E.U. market: Study.
June 12, 2000... Deregulation and consolidation in the European insurance market have led to the emergence of a half-dozen multinational companies that dominate the European insurance industry at the expense of smaller, national insurers and foreign-owned...

Frontier unit off U.S. list; Surety unit's planned sale not affected: CEO.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... ROCK HILL, N.Y. -- Frontier Insurance Group officials say the planned sale of its surety operations will not be affected by the U.S. Treasury Department's recent decision to bar a Frontier unit from writing bonds for government-related...

For the Record.(Statistical Data Included)
June 12, 2000... PENSION REFORM House Republicans are expected to make a new effort to pass a comprehensive pension reform package. The measure, now being assembled, would be based on a bill earlier introduced by Reps. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Rob Portman,...

Global Briefs.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... Advanta Seeds UK Ltd. will compensate farmers forced to destroy their oilseed rape crops as a result of genetically modified seed contamination. The company, a subsidiary of Dutch-based seed supplier Advanta BV, has not admitted liability for...

U.K. employers welcome plan to increase workplace safety.(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... LONDON -- British industry and insurers have welcomed government proposals designed to reduce the number of work-related deaths and injuries. The proposals, unveiled last week by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Bill Callaghan, the...

Legal Briefs: Psychiatric commitment not incarceration in comp law.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... The term "incarceration" means imprisonment or confinement in a jail or penitentiary as that term is used in the workers compensation law, according to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Daniel Hendrie, an employee of Henkels & McCoy...

Insurer seeks quick appeal of data coverage ruling.(Statistical Data Included)
June 12, 2000... PHOENIX -- In an unusual move that reflects the importance of a federal court's pro-policyholder ruling on a business interruption loss triggered by a computer malfunction, an insurer is attempting to appeal the ruling before going to trial...

Seattle court to hear Microsoft case.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Insurers for Microsoft Corp.'s must pursue their coverage litigation against the software company in federal court in Seattle, not Washington, D.C., a federal judge has ruled. At issue is coverage by current and former...

Policyholder needn't exhaust all retentions to tap cover.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 12, 2000... LOS ANGELES -- Policyholders do not have to exhaust the self-insured retentions under all potentially applicable insurance policies to be eligible for coverage by any one insurer, a California appellate court has ruled. Self-insured...

Errors & omissions.(Statistical Data Included)
June 12, 2000... A liberalization of federal rules would decrease the likelihood that a group health care plan an employer extends to a company in which it has an ownership interest would be considered a multiple employer welfare arrangement. Due to a...

9th Circuit finds bias in Oregon against RRGs.(risk retention groups)(Statistical Data Included)
June 12, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Oregon laws that require automobile dealers and distributors selling vehicle service contracts to purchase reimbursement policies from "authorized" insurers and not from risk retention groups are pre-empted by the Risk...

Agents flock to online exchange.(Brief Article)
June 19, 2000... An Internet insurance trading company has reached a milestone before completing its first transaction. In anticipation of its launch later this year, InsureTrade.com has signed up agencies handling more than $1 billion in premiums, said D.R....

Risk management standards effort on schedule.(Brief Article)
June 19, 2000... BIRMINGHAM, England -- A broad effort to develop risk management standards in the United Kingdom is proceeding on schedule and will include comments from working risk managers, the project's coordinator says. The Assn. of Insurance & Risk...

Many U.K. companies lack cyber cover: Survey.(Brief Article)
June 19, 2000... BIRMINGHAM, England -- Three out of four U.K. businesses lack coverage for damage caused by cyber risks, such as computer viruses and hacker attacks, a recent survey shows. The survey, conducted by Lloyd's of London, polled attendees at...

Reputational risk needs managing.
June 19, 2000... BIRMINGHAM, England -- Companies should treat risks to their reputation in the same way they treat risks to other corporate assets. That was the message put forward in a presentation by David Brotzen, a director of London-based reputation...

U.K. raising bar on work safety .
June 19, 2000... BIRMINGHAM, England -- Efforts to improve workplace safety must become part of U.K. corporate culture, rather than being seen as merely a regulatory duty, a safety expert says. One factor that will drive greater attention to risk management...

Vendor effort a big factor; Employee satisfaction is top health care concern: Survey.
June 19, 2000... Benefit managers who create partnerships with their health care vendors report better performance from them. When health care buyers put in the time to forge this relationship, they are often rewarded with better service and give higher...

London closes footbridge.
June 19, 2000... LONDON -- It's not quite London Bridge falling down, but London's newest attraction has been closed just one week after it opened. The Millennium Bridge, which links St. Paul's Cathedral with the new Tate Modern art gallery, was closed...

ACORD celebrates 30th anniversary.
June 19, 2000... What must rank as one of the slickest and most elaborately staged insurance industry conferences provided attendees with a mix of high-tech entertainment and education last month. ACORD held its Technology Conference 2000 at the...

China shutters Travelers office.
June 19, 2000... BEIJING -- China's insurance regulator has closed Travelers Insurance Co.'s representative office in Beijing for unspecified violations of the country's insurance regulations. A spokeswoman for Travelers said the Beijing office had been...

Loss prevention to be next focus of battle over data coverage.
June 19, 2000... Even with the support of a federal court's decision to extend property coverage to business interruption losses triggered by computer glitches not attributable to physical damage, policyholders still should expect coverage problems. ...

HMO challenge misguided.
June 19, 2000... MANAGED CARE COMPANIES have succeeded in deflecting a new legal assault on their practices, but they still need to make fundamental operational changes if they are to truly reduce their liability exposure. The U.S. Supreme Court last week...

Patient rights bill best left alone.
June 19, 2000... THIS MONTH'S SENATE floor action should end any doubt that the debate over patient protection legislation has far more to do with scoring political points than finding an appropriate federal remedy. As we reported, the Senate defeated -- on...

HMO cost control rewards upheld .
June 19, 2000... WASHINGTON -- The battle over managed care regulation may grow fiercer following a unanimous Supreme Court decision upholding the right of HMOs to encourage physicians to hold down the costs of care through financial incentives. Last...

For The Record.
June 19, 2000... PACIFICARE EXITS PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. said last week it is withdrawing from its Ohio and Kentucky markets. The move is part of Santa Ana, Calif.-based PacifiCare's decision to focus its business in the Western states, where it is...

Global Briefs.
June 19, 2000... French insurance giant Caisse Centrale Groupama has announced some top management changes as a result of diverging opinions at board level. Director General Bernard Delas and his deputy, Gilles Laporte, have resigned. Their roles will be filled...

Insurer's consulting experiment works.(Brief Article)
June 19, 2000... Facing a hot job market that made it tough to recruit and retain workers critical to the company's technology-based projects and e-business initiatives, The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. put those workers in business for themselves....

Business continuation demands planning.
June 19, 2000... Each spring begins a period of potential devastation and loss to business from windstorms, flooding and other natural disasters. The tornado season, which intensifies between April and June, has already visited the areas of Fort Worth and...

Standards sought for large accounts.(Brief Article)
June 19, 2000... Exchanging information on some commercial insurance accounts will be easier if work on new electronic standards is successful. ACORD has established a working group to begin developing standards for processing information related to large...

Improving access to claims information.(Brief Article)
June 19, 2000... Agents are letting insurers and other business partners know that the more information they can get regarding claims -- and the faster they can get it -- the better. Insurers say that they are hearing agents' thoughts on needed...

Labor shortages prompt innovative recruiting.
June 19, 2000... Although insurers and intermediaries have long struggled to draw young talent into the insurance industry, today's tight labor market is forcing many companies to rethink the way they attract and retain employees. In some cases, firms are...